News Broadcasting
Digital arena is driving global music sales
MUMBAI: Sales of digital music in the first half of this year rose by 106 per cent to $945 million when compared with the first six months of last year.
Globally, digital sales now account for 11 per cent of the total recorded music market worldwide, up from 5.5 per cent in December 2005.
According to a report put out by the Ifpi the US is still leading the digital revolution, with 18 per cent of recorded music sales now being made through digital channels. Digital music sales in the US increased by 84 per cent to US$ 513 million in the first six months of 2006.
Digital music also accounts for a significant part of the overall market in South Korea (51 per cent), Japan (11 per cent), Italy (9 per cent) and the UK (8 per cent).
The explosion in digital music services, spurred by consumer demand and a widening array of delivery channels, has seen online and mobile music sales grow from $134 million in the first half of 2004 to $945 million in the first half of 2006.
In Japan, Italy and Spain mobile dominates the digital market, accounting for 85 per cent, 76 per cent and 78 per cent of the overall sales respectively. Online downloading is more prominent in markets such as the UK, Germany and the US, where online sales account for 70 per cent, 69 per cent and 64 per cent of digital sales respectively.
Physical music sales declined in the first half period, down by 10 per cent worldwide. This led to total music sales falling by four per cent in the period to $8.4 billion in trade values ($13.7 billion in retail values). Piracy and competition for consumer spending contributed to the first half fall.
There was growth in some markets, such as Japan (12 per cent), South Korea (5 per cent) and Australia (6 per cent), counter-balanced by declines in Germany (-4 per cent), the US (-7 per cent) and France (-9 per cent).
Ifpi promotes the interests of the international recording industry worldwide. Its membership comprises over 1400 major and independent companies in more than 70 countries. It also has affiliated industry national groups in 48 countries. Ifpi’s mission is to fight music piracy; promote fair market access and good copyright laws; help develop the legal conditions and the technologies for the recording industry to prosper in the digital era; and to promote the value of music.
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
